On the peaceful early morning of Aug. 29, we gazed east to watch SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket illuminate the sky. Approximately eight minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9 first stage B1061-4 successfully landed on an autonomous barge out in the Atlantic Ocean. The next day, CRS-23’s Cargo Dragon capsule reached the International Space Station – delivering 4,800 pounds of science … [Read more...]
To Nona & Beyond: Milky Way Season
One of the most striking things that can be seen in the night sky is the region of our galaxy’s center. The prime viewing window for such a sight is between March and September in the Northern Hemisphere. It is possible to see the Milky Way faintly in the outskirts of suburbs, yet for the best viewing experience, it is recommended to travel to truly dark skies. The nearest dark … [Read more...]
To Nona & Beyond: The Partial Lunar Eclipse
The lunar eclipse on May 26 may not have reached totality in Florida, yet local observers were still greeted with an amazing celestial display. At the eclipse’s maximum point from Lake Nona, the Earth’s umbral shadow covered over half the moon! Moments later, the moon set on the horizon, and the sun rose promptly after. We were at Lake Nona photographing the entire process so … [Read more...]
To Nona & Beyond: The Launch of Crew-2
On a clear Friday morning, at 5:49 a.m., the Crew-2 mission lifted off from LC-39A. Launching into orbital sunrise, the Falcon 9 rocket’s exhaust plume generated a magnificent neon-blue nebula that stretched across the northern horizon – easily visible from many parts of Lake Nona. It was quite possibly one of the most beautiful things we have ever witnessed. The atmospheric … [Read more...]
To Nona & Beyond: The Life Cycle of Starlink
The SpaceX Starlink missions follow what could be described as a life cycle: launch, deploy, land, and repeat. This remarkable process involves many finer details, and it is what we will be covering in this article. Starlink launches have become ever more prevalent this year. Over the past month, we have seen two of these missions. Starlink is a space internet constellation … [Read more...]